What Type Of Cat Is My Cat

Is My Cat Happy

Much the same as humans, your cat will feel happy when all their needs are being met and they feel relaxed and comfortable. Your cat might feel these positive emotions in a few different situations, so there are a range of body language cues to look out for that can help you understand whether your cat is happy.

Why A Mixed Breed Cat Might Be The Best Breed

Whats more, she notes, the mixed breed cats have whats referred to as hybrid vigor working in their favor. When we have more genetic variation coming together in an animal, were less likely to have manifestations of diseases, explains Johnson.

The bottom-line: We can all absolutely appreciate the beauty and allure of the purebred cat, says Johnson. But at the same time, ultimately, were looking for a good match for our family. No matter what breed theyre descended from, a rescue categorized simply as domestic shorthair or longhair could end up being your greatest companion.

Types Of Lumps Under A Cat’s Skin

Cats can develop lumps which present in various ways. Some can be soft fatty lumps which have a lot of give when touched. Others can be very hard and won’t move much under their skin. These different qualities are very important for a veterinarian as they can help to determine whether the lump under the cat’s skin is benign or malignant.

Kittens often develop temporary lumps under their skin which are usually benign lipomas . They can often be the result of a fall or a blow when playing with their siblings or exploring. Older cats can also develop benign lumps when they age. However, they are at a greater risk of cancers and other malignant processes. When many lumps form, it can even be a sign of metastatic tumors.

Generally, the lumps under your cat’s skin will be one of the following:

Since location of the inflammation is so important, take a look at reasons why your cat has a lump on their neck.

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Choosing The Best Food For Munchkin Kittens

Your Munchkin kitten will also need a complete and balanced food that provides all the nutrients shell need to become a healthy, mature cat. Kitten food like Purina Kitten Chow-Nature will aid in building strong bones, strong muscles, including a healthy heart, and other essential developments shell need to live a long and healthy life.

A Brief History Of Sphynxes

Hairless cats existed before Sphynxes came along, but they were always accidents. Youd have a bald cat here or there, but they wouldnt stick around long. The Sphynx was the first cat breed that was deliberately designed to be hairless.

A random genetic mutation led to the birth of three hairless cats in Toronto in 1966. The breeders who owned the cats fell in love with their new bald pets and decided to try to breed more cats that shared the mutation.

They werent immediately successful, as they had a limited genetic pool to draw from. This caused unforeseen genetic abnormalities in many cats, and quite a few of the early kittens didnt survive due to the limitations placed on them by their mutations.

Ultimately, though, they managed to create cats that would consistently create bald offspring. The adorable genetic abnormality quickly captured the attention of cat lovers in both Canada and the United States, causing the Sphynxs popularity to skyrocket in a short period of time.

The Sphynx is much more popular in North America than other parts of the world, but theyre starting to grow in popularity in Europe. Given their health issues and exorbitant price tag, though, theres likely a hard cap on just how mainstream these cats can become.

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Temperament & Intelligence Of The Sphynx

Sphynxes are some of the friendliest and most loving cats in the world, with many people comparing them to dogs in terms of demeanor. These are cats that will greet you at the door as soon as you get home, then follow you around the house until you leave again.

Theyre welcoming toward strangers as well. They wont run and hide under the bed as soon as guests arrive, choosing instead to come out and greet them with enthusiasm. After all, new people are just new opportunities to get petted.

Dont expect to have much peace and quiet with a Sphynx around, though. These cats are real chatterboxes, and theyll talk to you whenever youre around .

These cats are intelligent and equally curious, two things that can sometimes work to their detriment. Theyll get into everything in your home, so dont be surprised to come home to find that your kitchen counters have all been rearranged.

However, that brainpower makes them easy to train as well, and many people have actually taught their Sphynxes how to fetch and perform other dog-like tricks.

How To Identify Cat Body Types

As written by Michael Broad on Pictures-of-Cats.org, these are the common cat body types. Included are examples of breeds exhibiting these characteristics:

• The “Oriental” Type: Slender bodies, triangular heads, long appendages. These cats include: Cornish Rex, Siamese, Oriental Shorthair and Longhair.
• The “Foreign” Type: These cats have long, lean bodies, almond or oval eyes, and slim builds: Abyssinians, Japanese Bobtail, Russian Blues, Turkish Angoras.
• The “Semi-Foreign” Type: Middle-sized bodies, standard shape: American Curl, Devon Rex, Havana Brown, Munchkin, Sphynx, Showshoe.
• The “Semi-Cobby” Type: Thicker build, big-boned: American Shorthair, Bomba, British Shorthair, Scottish Fold.
• The “Cobby” Type: Described as short and compact, these breeds have round features and are muscular: Burmese, Persian, Himalayan.
• The “Substantial” Type: Large breeds with built body types. These breeds include: Maine Coon, Bengal, Norwegian Forest Cat, Ragdoll, Turkish Van.

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Could My Shelter Cat Be A Purebred Cat

While purebred shelter cats are rare, they are not unheard of!

There are a few different reasons that a purebred cat could end up in an animal shelter. Sometimes, a person purchases a purebred cat from a breeder because they like the look of a cat, but they are unaware of the unique needs, personality traits, and behaviors of that specific breed. They may discover that the cat is not a good fit for their home and take the cat to a shelter.

Other times, backyard breeding facilities aka kitten mills are shut down by animal control authorities due to unfit conditions for cats. The purebred cats and kittens are often taken to shelters. There have also been situations in which cat breeders go through personal trauma , have to shut down their business, and give their cats to a shelter.

Last, but not least, a purebred cat can get lost and end up in a shelter. These things do happen.

What Type Of Cat Has Short Legs

The Munchkin Cat or “Sausage Cat” is a new breed of cat that resulted from breeding for a genetic mutation. The International Cat Association recognized this controversial breed in 1995. Munchkin cats exhibit pseudoachondroplasiabecause they only exhibit the characteristic short legs but not the large head seen in achondroplasia.

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How To Tell What Breed My Cat Is

We will go over how to search for your cat’s breed on the internet. Your query will look something like this :

cat + torbie + bob tail + friendly + short legs + medium fur

Cats, in my opinion, are a little bit more challenging to identify than dog breeds. But, some traits that can help you determine what your cat is made of are:

• behavior

There’s a lot to go over, so let’s get started.

What You Need To Know About Cat Breeds In General

There are 73 types of purebred cats recognized by the International Cat Association, the worlds largest genetic registry of pedigree cats. However, there are as many as 300-400 different breeds of dogs, depending on which registries you include, notes Jo Myers, a licensed veterinarian with JustAnswer.

Most cat breeds werent developed until within the last one hundred years, so the existence of purebred cats is a recent phenomenon, says Myers. As a result of this, most cats on the planet today havent come about as the result of any type of intentional breeding.

What I usually explain to owners is if they have a purebred cat, they probably already know about it.

STACY CHOCZYNSKI JOHNSON, DOCTOR OF VETERINARY MEDICINE

In other words, when you adopt a cat from a local rescue, theyre most likely a mix of a variety of cat types.

What I usually explain to owners is if they have a purebred cat, they probably already know about it, says Stacy Choczynski Johnson, a doctor of veterinary medicine and veterinary expert for Pumpkin Pet Insurance. It has papers, it came from a breeder, and it was an intentional breeding.

If you have a mixed breed cat, then youre mostly just guessing if an ancestor was a unique breed, points out Johnson. Still, that doesnt stop many people Johnsons clients among them from wondering, What type of cat do I have?

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Can My Cat Undergo Genetic Testing To See Which Breed She Is

When youre asking yourself, What breed is my cat? the next natural question to ask is whether there is a scientific test that can prove your cats ancestry.

The answer is yes! A variety of companies provide mail-out cat DNA testing which can tell you what breed make up your cats pedigree. Its easy to take a DNA sample from your cat. You simply swab the inside of their cheek or cut a small piece of fur , mail it to the company, and wait for the results! Some reputable companies that provide DNA testing for cats include UC Davis Veterinary Medicine and Base Paws.

Want to show us your cat and see what other members think? Dont leave a comment here asking about your cat.

Instead, post a thread in our special forum titled Describing Cats What Does My Cat Look Like? Add a photo or two and wait for replies.

Finally Lets see how well you know your cat breeds. Take this fun illustrated quiz to find out!

Comments? Leave them using the form below. Questions? Please use the cat forums for those!

Best Dog Food For Affenpinscher Dogs & Puppies

Because the Affenpinscher is a toy breed, we recommend choosing a dog food specifically formulated for small dogs.

If you have an Affen puppy, choose a puppy-specific formula with essential nutrients for growth and development. For information on how much or when to feed your Affen dog or puppy, explore our feeding articles here.

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How To Treat Lumps In Cats

When we discover a lump under our cat’s skin, treatment will depend on its origin. Bruises, lipomas and cysts are generally not treated. Bruises will reduce in size once they heal. Lipomas and cysts do not usually cause a threat to the cat’s health. They can be removed surgically, but this is often an expensive procedure which many cat caregivers will forgo.

Lumps caused by infection may need to be treated with antibiotics or antifungal medication. Anti-inflammatories may be prescribed, especially if the cat is in pain. Corticosteroids may be used in some inflammatory diseases. Cancerous tumors can sometimes be treated with chemotherapy drugs, but may also require surgical removal.

If your cat has a lump under their skin, it is important they are taken to a veterinarian. Even some lumps which look benign can be a symptom of a serious healthy problem. Providing a professional diagnosis helps us to initiate treatment promptly which can help their prognosis. Under no circumstances should you try to remove, lance or treat the lump yourself until a professional has determined its cause. Doing so can jeopardize the life of the cat.

This article is purely informative. AnimalWised does not have the authority to prescribe any veterinary treatment or create a diagnosis. We invite you to take your pet to the veterinarian if they are suffering from any condition or pain.

Is My Cat A Longhair Or Shorthair Cat

When you find yourself wondering, Which breed is my cat most like?, the first thing that you need to determine is whether your cat has long or short hair. This will help you narrow down the breeds that your cat could potentially be.

While this seems like it would be a simple question to answer, many cat owners are unsure as to whether their cat is long-haired or short-haired. There is actually no formal definition for what constitutes long in a cats coat.

Some breeds are clearly long-haired though. Persians are probably the most well-known breed that clearly has a long-haired coat.

Ragdolls are also considered long-haired

Even Maine Coons are counted among the longhaired breeds

And of course, your cat may be a domestic longhair of no particular breed

Genetically speaking, only cats that have two copies of the recessive longhair gene will be a longhaired cat. A cat that has one copy of the longhair gene and one of the shorthair gene will be shorthaired but still carry the longhair gene.

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My Cat Mated With A Purebred Cat Will The Kittens Look Like The Father Or The Mother

It can be very difficult to predict what the kittens will look like. Guessing the colors and coat patterns may be possible but thats not necessarily related to the breed of either parent.

The answer to the coat color question depends among other things on the sex of the kitten! Male and female kittens patterns and colors are inherited differently.

Types Of Play On Your Cat

Do you know that whereas a cats pure intuition is to hunt and play, not all cats play the identical approach? To assist encourage play behaviour it may be useful to seek out out what sort of play your cat prefers. From chasing and stalking to birding play and pouncing, right heres the best way to get essentially the most out of playtime together with your cat.

Methods to begin

Begin by providing your cat varied toys and transferring them round in numerous methods. This helps to determine their most well-liked play objects and motion type. Upon getting discovered their toy choice for that play session you can begin to determine your cats play type of selection is

Chasing and stalking

Does your cat like to hunt on the bottom? Then chasing and stalking is the right play type for them because it stimulates pure looking behaviours. Dragging a toy on a string at totally different paces works nicely, as do toys that resemble prey which may be scurrying on the bottom, like a toy mouse. Some cats are even a fan of chasing a ball down a hallway at a excessive pace, which can also be helpful for each day train.

Birding Play

Swatting play

Shock play and conceal and search

Kick play or bunny kick

Pouncing

Thanks for studying up on our cat play types! For extra enrichment and coaching ideas, take a look at our Shelter Well being Professional web site.

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Can I Catch Worms From My Cat

You can’t catch tapeworms directly from your cat, but ingesting a flea carrying tapeworm eggs can have nasty effects. The hookworm cannot complete their life cycle in a human though that can cause itchy, red skin eruptions.

Roundworms can’t survive past the larval stage in humans. It is very unlikely that you will contract any worm infestation directly from your cat.

Himalayans Are Descended From One Of The Oldest Cat Breeds

Himalayan cats are descended from the Persian breed, which is one of the oldest known cat breeds. Persian cats have been shown in hieroglyphics dated from 1684 B.C.

The Himalayan breed was created by Virginia Cobb and Dr. Clyde Keeler in 1931. The first Himalayan kitten was called Newtons Debutante. In 1957, the American breed associations recognized the Himalayan breed.

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Cat Body Types Vary Significantly And Breed Standards Suggest Basically Six Categories

Cat body types can be broken down into six very basic categories according to breed standards.

Cats are not only categorized by their breed and type, but also by the type of body they have.

The boundaries are not strictly defined and cats will often cross the borders between types.

The body shape/type of a cat breed plays a major role in the allocation of points in a show – the relative sturdiness, slenderness and the length and thickness of the legs are essential to the overall image of the cat breed.

Oriental/Skinny/Slender

This shape is graceful and slender but is also firm and muscular.

The head is long and triangular with long legs and a long tail.

Examples of cats that fall into this category are Siamese and Cornish Rex.

Lilac Point Siamese cat by Karin Langner Bahmann

Foreign/Svelte

Cats in this category can be described as long and firm bodied, with the legs in proportion and the tail long and tapered.

The head must be a modified wedge with the ears large and the eyes oval shaped. The Somali is an example of this category.

A Blue Somali kitten, aged 3 months

Semi-foreign

This type of body is a little less slender and less long than the svelte cat body type.

The head is a modified wedge shape with ears not as large.

Cats in this category are usually fine or medium boned and the American Curl is a perfect example.

American Curl Cat photo by Creative Commons user Cljk

Semi-cobby/Robust

Slightly less compact and usually less round than the cobby body type.

Bombay Cat